Kudos to Woodwerks.com Customer Support


FtrPilot

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Back on April 16, wdwerker informed us that Steel City closed down....with a recommendation that  "If you need any parts or accessories scramble for the stuff dealers have in stock."



I followed the thread, even though I didn't own any Steel City products.

Later in the thread, SlingBlade informed us that Woodwerks.com had a Steel City planer on sale, with the link.

http://www.woodwerks.com/brand/steel-city/planers/steel-city-13-two-speed-thickness-planer-w-super-cut.html

Since a benchtop planer was in my "Buy List", I decided to buy one from Woodwerks.com. I received the planer about 3 days later.

To make a long story short, the planer stopped working after about 10 minutes.  No heavy load, really just trying it out to learn how it works.

This occurred last Saturday, April 25, but Woodwerks.com customer support only works Monday - Friday.

I sent the following e-mail to Woodwerks.com customer support:

"This is to inform you that the planer has stopped working.  I have used it about 10 minutes.  I am letting it cool down, although, the motor is not hot to the touch. I cannot tell if the on-motor circuit breaker has popped.  I am going to wait about an hour and try to start the motor again.
 
I will call on Monday morning to discuss."

About 45 minutes later, I tried the planer again...no luck.  Here's the next e-mail I sent.

"Update, I tried again about 45 minutes later and the planer is totally inoperative.  I will call Monday morning to see how you want to proceed."

Monday morning, here's the e-mail from Woodwerks:

"That is no good! I apologize. I am getting another Planer together for you and will ship it today. When you receive the new planer you’ll find a UPS return label inside. Please place the old planer inside the box with the same packing and stick the UPS return label over the existing label. Finally, drop the package off at your local UPS and they’ll get it back to us.

Please let me know if you have any questions."

Phone call not required. No questions asked.  The replacement planer arrived this morning.

I am most impressed with the way that Woodwerks handled this situation.

Woodwerks is a first class company.  I will never hesitate to do business with them in the future.



 

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I have to agree. I ordered my Laguna band saw through WoodWerks. There was a snafu with the freight/lift gate service; which was no fault of WoodWerks or Laguna. I emailed all parties and both WoodWerks and Laguna responded within the hour. It all worked out in the end and I got my saw. WoodWerks reimbursed my shipping costs with a gift certificate and Laguna sent a free blade to me for my trouble. Good customer service experience for me as well. :) 

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While we're rating companies' customer service, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just put it here:

 

Blue Spruce Toolworks is on my $#!% list.  I ordered a couple marking knives from them 18 days ago and have heard nothing.  No order confirmation, no "sorry we're backordered," nothing.  I've emailed them and still nothing.  If I have to call them to get some info, I'm gonna have to cancel my order...which pains me because I really want those knives.

 

Outrageously poor customer service.  Just throwing it out there...they deserve a public bashing.

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While we're rating companies' customer service, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just put it here:

 

Blue Spruce Toolworks is on my $#!% list.  I ordered a couple marking knives from them 18 days ago and have heard nothing.  No order confirmation, no "sorry we're backordered," nothing.  I've emailed them and still nothing.  If I have to call them to get some info, I'm gonna have to cancel my order...which pains me because I really want those knives.

 

Outrageously poor customer service.  Just throwing it out there...they deserve a public bashing.

 

Yeah, just no excuse for this sort of thing in this day and age. I quick note to say, "hey we're tied up right now, but thanks for the order", would probably be sufficient to keep me hanging on. But no response at all is not cool.

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While we're rating companies' customer service, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just put it here:

 

Blue Spruce Toolworks is on my $#!% list.  I ordered a couple marking knives from them 18 days ago and have heard nothing.  No order confirmation, no "sorry we're backordered," nothing.  I've emailed them and still nothing.  If I have to call them to get some info, I'm gonna have to cancel my order...which pains me because I really want those knives.

 

Outrageously poor customer service.  Just throwing it out there...they deserve a public bashing.

 

Agreed..  Poor customer service loses my business every time!

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..... For me, 99% of the time, customer service trumps price!

 

Which is why I felt a need to start this thread.  We need to share our customer service experiences.

 

 

 

While we're rating companies' customer service, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just put it here:

 

I always welcome your feedback, comments, and value your opinion....thanks.

 

I am going to recommend to Marc that we add another category under "Woodworking Talk" before or after "Product Reviews".  The title would be "Retail Deals and Feedback".  I realize there is a retail deals thread, but sometimes, it gets buried and we could miss out on some really good deals.  Feedback on retail sellers is very valuable...good or bad. 

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While not woodworking related, I bought an onkyo receiver in 2011. The network connection stopped working, and sound became intermittent. I called, they asked for my email address. They sent me a link while on the phone. In 2 days I got packaging, including labels, tape, etc. Within a week of calling I had my receiver back and repaired for absolutely no cost other than driving a half mile to drop off the ups package.

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If you are ever in the Columbus Ohio area, their store is nothing short of awesome!  Glad to hear they have equally good customer service.

 

I don't travel as much as I used to, but if I am ever in the area, I will certainly pay them a visit.

 

 

Their store is pretty cool and even my wife and daughters enjoyed their open house.  I wish they stocked more hand tools, it seems like they'd have the floor space for a LN or LV area. 

 

I am in the market for some LN products...unfortunately, they don't stock LN. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

While we're rating companies' customer service, instead of starting a new thread, I'll just put it here:

 

Blue Spruce Toolworks is on my $#!% list.  I ordered a couple marking knives from them 18 days ago and have heard nothing.  No order confirmation, no "sorry we're backordered," nothing.  I've emailed them and still nothing.  If I have to call them to get some info, I'm gonna have to cancel my order...which pains me because I really want those knives.

 

Outrageously poor customer service.  Just throwing it out there...they deserve a public bashing.

 

I'm gonna update this since it would be unfair to leave it unresolved.

 

I finally called them on the one month anniversary without hearing a word.  Dave answered right away and was very nice and apologetic about the lack of communication.  He explained that they had been inundated with orders and had fallen behind.  He informed me that my knives were scheduled to be shipped out the next day.

 

They were shipped priority and I had them two days later...and Dave refunded part of my shipping cost since the package weighed next to nothing...I didn't ask him to do that - he just did it.

 

I have to maintain that it was a pretty frustrating buying experience based purely upon the absence of communication.  But I understand they are a small operation making boutique tools...the wait wouldn't have bothered me at all if they would have simply given me a heads up on the expected lead time.  I will say without hesitation...it was worth the wait.  These marking knives are a couple of the most well-made and beautiful tools I own.

 

So they get an F- on communication but an A+ on everything else.  If I order anything from them in the future, I'll be doing it over the phone.

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